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BBC Classics

BBC Classics

Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre & Cranford

Summary

Unabridged readings of three of the greatest novels of all time

This timeless collection brings together three of the finest works in the literary canon, read in full by some of the very best audiobook narrators. With over 38 hours of unmissable storytelling, tracked by chapter so you can easily find your place, this is the ideal way to enjoy these classic masterpieces.

Pride and Prejudice
Jane Austen's universally acknowledged romance charts the love story between pretty, witty Elizabeth Bennett and handsome, arrogant Fitzwilliam Darcy. Read by Clare Corbett.

Jane Eyre
Orphan Jane falls head over heels in love with the brooding, mysterious Mr Rochester in Charlotte Brontë's coming-of-age classic about secrets and lies. Read by Katherine Press.

Cranford
Elizabeth Gaskell's much-loved portrait of life in a Cheshire town and its female inhabitants, as they cope with the impact of change on their small world. Read by Carolyn Pickles.


Credits:

Pride and Prejudice
Read by Clare Corbett
Produced by Justine Willett
First broadcast on BBC Sounds, 24 August 2019

Jane Eyre
Read by Katherine Press
Produced by Anne Bunting
First broadcast on BBC Sounds, 24 August 2019

Cranford
Read by Carolyn Pickles
Produced by Julian Wilkinson
First broadcast on BBC Sounds, 1 November 2019


(p) 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
© 2021 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

About the authors

Jane Austen

Jane Austen, the daughter of a clergyman, was born in Hampshire in 1775, and later lived in Bath and the village of Chawton. As a child and teenager, she wrote brilliantly witty stories for her family's amusement, as well as a novella, Lady Susan. Her first published novel was Sense and Sensibility, which appeared in 1811 and was soon followed by Pride and Prejudice, Mansfield Park and Emma. Austen died in 1817, and Persuasion and Northanger Abbey were published posthumously in 1818.
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Charlotte Brontë

Charlotte Brontë was born in Yorkshire in 1816. As a child, she was sent to boarding school, where two of her sisters died; she was subsequently educated at home with her younger siblings, Emily, Branwell and Anne. As an adult, Charlotte worked as a governess and taught in a school in Brussels. Jane Eyre was first published in 1847 under the pen-name Currer Bell, and was followed by Shirley (1848), Villette (1853) and The Professor (posthumously published in 1857). In 1854 Charlotte married her father's curate, Arthur Bell Nicholls. She died in March of the following year.
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Elizabeth Gaskell

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